Shadow of the Moon
by moodyriver
Summary: Takes place after Eclipse. Edward and Bella's wedding is looming, and Jake disappears, only to resurface with a stranger. What will happen when Bella discovers that all is not as it appears?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Prologue

The only thing I could hear was the soft _thump-thump_ of my heart. I was sure he could hear it too.

I supposed I should've been terrified, seeing as I was about to die. Strangely, though, I was calm. Edward's face swam in my mind, as perfect as ever, his eyes as dark as night. "Hold on, Bella," he seemed to be saying. "You're almost there."

The killer shifted slightly before me, sizing up my emotions. I steeled myself for the pain I knew was about to come, the inevitable. I thought of Edward, of Alice, of Carlisle – would they think I had made the right choice? Would they cry tearless sobs over my grave? _No,_ I told myself. _This is the only way. The only way you can save them._

"I've looked forward to this for so long," he said, licking his lips slightly. "Your death, that is. I must have pictured it a million times in my head, but somehow, it pales in comparison to the actual sight of you, so cold and afraid, helpless. Your boyfriend's not around to save you now, is he?"

I couldn't stop the whimper that escaped from my lips. _Will it hurt? _I wondered childishly, and then pushed the thought away. He phased then, morphing into the hideous monster that had haunted my dreams for so long.

"Say goodbye, Bella…." the werewolf whispered softly.

And suddenly, for one brief, heavenly moment, Edward was beside me, holding my hand in his own icy one. I reached for him instinctively.

There was pain.

And then there was nothing.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support. I appreciate it SO much. Also, just to warn you, Jacob doesn't come off as all that nice in this story (not the chapter, but in the future). While I have no beef with him myself (although I am an Edward girl), please don't flame me for making him look less than the perfect character he is.**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer; plot is mine. **

I heard the car before I saw it.

The squeal of tires, the thumping of the dance remix blaring from the speakers, and the graceful soprano that wove her own harmony in with the music could only mean one person – Alice Cullen.

Sure enough, the familiar silver Volvo took the corner at the end of my street much too quickly and screeched to a stop in front of me with Alice at the wheel. Her oversized, entirely too expensive designer sunglasses hid her eyes from my view, butterscotch from her hunting trip the past weekend with Rosalie. She was out of the car almost before it stopped, her door closing without a sound and her arms encircling me in a hug before I had time to react.

Alice, always a frequent visitor at Charlie's house, had taken lately to appearing without warning, toting menu plans and seating charts for me to look over for what she called my "big day". I was beginning to regret allowing her to plan my wedding, but there was no turning back now. In a mere two months, I would become Mrs. Edward Cullen, and – if all went according to plan – a vampire.

Needless to say, Charlie hadn't taken too well to the idea of me becoming Edward's wife (I could only imagine what he would say if I told him I intended to become a vampire). In fact, his reaction had been a mixture of some choice swear words and threats to call Renee on the spot, the latter of which he carried through with. Renee had been furious, an emotion totally uncharacteristic for her. But she had made it clear from the time I was very young that marrying Charlie so young had been a mistake, and she was sure that I wouldn't be so frivolous, so I supposed I deserved some of it. Eventually her head cleared, and she had reluctantly agreed that I was making the right decision.

And then there was Jacob……

No one had seen him in a week, and Billy was clearly worried. Sam Uley had assured me by phone that Jake was fine, that he was just working some things out for himself, but I knew there was more to it than that. Ever since Jake had found out that I was engaged to Edward, he had been distant, not completely there when I spoke to him. Part of this, I knew, was due to my unforgivable selfishness. I had cried myself to sleep in Edward's arms more nights than I could count in the time since my graduation. The truth was that I _missed_ Jacob, more than anyone knew. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I loved him. In a family way, of course, but there was more to it than that. And I wanted so badly to be able to tell him that I loved him, I would always love him, but it would just end up hurting us both even more.

Maybe that was why he had disappeared.

Alice skipped to the front door, leaving me to trudge dully behind her, my thoughts muddled by Jake's absence. "So I brought some more color schemes for you to look at," she announced, oblivious to my pain. "I really think a blue setting is the way to go; Edward likes that color on you so much and I……Bella? You're not listening to me." She pouted.

"Sorry," I murmured. "Here, we can go sit in the kitchen. I have to make Charlie's dinner."

She sighed. "Okay. But I can see that you're thinking about something else. You're not going to listen, so why bother? Tell me what's on your mind, Bella."

I pulled out the leftovers from Friday's casserole and stuck them in the microwave to heat up. "Nothing, really. Just the wedding and everything." I avoided her eyes, knowing that she would see right through the lie.

"It's about Jake again, isn't it? Of course it is," she answered her own question. "Bella, he'll come back when he's ready. Honestly, I think Edward's happier when he's gone."

"I know that!" I snapped, instantly regretting it. "I hate this. I hate how I can love them both so much, and yet……" I trailed off. "It's not enough for him. All I can do is make it worse. That's why he left, Alice. I can't – " My eyes filled with tears. "Damn it! I am not going to cry."

Instantly, her ice-cold arms were around me, soothing, numbing the pain. "Bella," she whispered. "Please, listen. Once you become one of us, we'll never come back here again. You're going to have to let Jacob go sometime, and you'll just make it harder on yourself if you fall apart now. You know that, Edward knows that. He doesn't want to see you hurting like this, and I'm sure Jake doesn't either. Maybe you've already said your goodbyes."

Her words stung me, but it was because I recognized how true they were. What if Jake never came back to say goodbye? Would I never feel his warm hand in mine, never look into his dark eyes and know that I loved him, even if it wasn't enough?

Had I lost Jacob Black already?


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, you guys, the reviews have been AWESOME

**A/N: This will probably be the last update until sometime next week – I'm going out of town.**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

"Bella?" Charlie's voice came tentatively up the stairs. "Bella, honey, wake up."

I opened my eyes, blinking blearily in the light streaming in from my window. "Bella?"

"What?" I moaned, pulling my pillow back over my head.

"Bella, he's back. Jacob's back."

In an instant, I was wide awake, breathless with joy. "He's back? Is he…..he's okay, right?"

Charlie nodded, his face awash with relief. "He's fine. He went to Seattle, stayed on the streets for awhile. But he's fine. He keeps saying he wants to see you."

I was already out of bed, rummaging in my drawer for a clean pair of jeans. "I'll be ready as fast as I can. I – I can't believe it. I thought he was……." I paused, swallowing around the sudden lump in my throat. "I thought he wasn't even going to say goodbye to me."

Charlie's face softened, and for a brief moment I could see a glimpse of the man he had once been, the young man Renee had fallen in and out of love with. "Oh, honey. Don't say that. Jake wouldn't do that to you. Never."

And in that moment, I wanted to tell him everything. How Carlisle had struggled for centuries to do the work he so loved, to save lives. How it felt to perch on Edward's back as he ran soundlessly through the forest, faster than any human could ever dream of. The sight of his skin, sparkling in the sunlight, so dazzling it almost hurt to look at him. But most of all, I wanted to tell him how that, in only a few short weeks, I wouldn't be his little girl anymore. I would be married. I wouldn't even be human.

_Who _will _I be?_ I wondered silently. _A monster? Or Bella Swan?_

I ran to my truck, keys jangling in my hand, my face flushed with both excitement and nerves. Fumbling with the lock, I managed to get the door open and turn the ignition, my hands shaking. Trying to force myself to calm down, I took several deep breaths before pulling out, and proceeded to speed all the way to La Push.

Outside of the Blacks' small house, a crowd had gathered. I recognized many faces – all the pack members were there, and Emily, Sam's arm wrapped around her shoulder. There was Old Quil in his wheelchair, beaming. They all seemed to be waiting for something…..but what?

I cut the engine and stepped out of the car, scanning the clump of people for Jacob. He was probably inside the house, I reasoned. Nothing to be concerned about. And yet I felt a growing knot of worry settle in my stomach, although why, I didn't know. My body seemed to sense something that my mind hadn't caught up to yet.

The crowd parted then, revealing to me what the tall frames of the pack members had previously hidden. A boy, about my age, was surrounded by the press of people, fending off a flurry of questions from Sam Uley. I gazed at him for a moment, and his eyes flicked up to meet mine. I noticed that they were very dark. Pitch black.

Then the front door banged open, and I was wrapped in Jacob Black's warm arms, a place I had thought I would never be again. I was laughing and crying all at once, trying to explain to him everything, but he just rocked me back and forth, humming.

"I know," he said. "I know. I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't – I couldn't think about it then. But I can now."

"Why are all these people here?" I asked, wiping a stray tear away.

He hesitated. Too long. "There's someone you should meet."

The stranger's name was Ryan Sullivan, and Jacob had met him in Seattle. His skin was as dark as Jacob's, and his cheekbones were sharp and defined, but that wasn't what drew my eye. A long scar roped up his muscled arms, angry and red. There was a story behind that, I was sure, but now wasn't the time to hear it.

"Ryan, this is Bella, Bella Swan. The girl I told you about. Bells, this is Ryan. He's…..got some stuff he has to work out, so he's staying with me and Billy for awhile."

I nodded, suddenly shy. "Nice to meet you."

Jacob turned to me, his old familiar smile flashing across his face, and suddenly my heart was so full I thought it might burst. I had been waiting to see him for so long, and here he was. Finally I could talk to him, to try to help heal his heart as little as I could. Carlisle had fixed his body after his injuries, but I was afraid that his heart was hurting much worse.

"Jake….." I started, trying to formulate the words I desperately needed to say into a sentence. "I know we only have a little time. I just want to try to fix things."

Suddenly his face was guarded. The crowd had melted away, returning to their homes or chatting with Billy, and the three of us were alone. "Bella, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you? That I would just come back and everything would be okay?"

I winced. "No, Jake! I didn't, of course I didn't."

Ryan shifted uncomfortably, and I realized that our conversation made little, if any sense to him. "Sorry, Ryan," I apologized in a rush. "Um, I should go. I'll talk to you later, Jacob." I turned to leave, only to be enveloped in a hug by Jacob. I buried my face in his shoulder, trying to stem the tears that were threatening to spill over again.

_Why does it have to be so hard?_

Edward was waiting for me as I drove across the boundary line, his Volvo over on the side of the road. Wordlessly I pulled over and killed the engine, knowing he would be there within seconds.

Seeing his face again, even after the short separation, soothed my thudding heart, healing the ache I felt whenever he left. He never failed to knock me breathless, no matter how much time I spent around him. His eyes, golden and smoldering, locked on mine, silently questioning what had happened.

"He's back," I sighed as he settled me on his lap. "Edward, I thought for sure that he would never come to see me."

His lips came to rest in my hair. "It's my fault."

I turned my head to look at him. "Please, don't start with this again. _I'm _the one who's hurting him now, and it has nothing to do with you. I need to fix it, but……I know there's a part of me, too large to ignore, that will always love him. _You're_ the one I want to spend eternity with, and I will, but I keep wanting something different."

His face tightened almost imperceptibly, and an edge crept into his velvet voice. "Bella, you know you'll never see Jacob Black again after you join my family."

I inhaled sharply, instinctively. "I know. But that doesn't change the fact that however much I love him, it's never enough. For him or for me. It's only enough to make things that much worse."

Abruptly he sniffed at my hair. "Besides the usual scent of dog……there's something else. Was there someone new on the reservation today?"

I started, remembering. "Yes! Jacob brought him back from Seattle. Ryan Sullivan. Jake said he had to work some things out and was going to stay at La Push for awhile."

His tone darkened. "I see. He's not……one of them, is he?"

I frowned. "I don't know. I don't think so. Jacob didn't say. I saw his eyes, though. There was something strange about them……" I concentrated, trying to remember. "They were really dark, as dark as yours when you're thirsty. Darker, even."

And there was something else, a lingering feeling that had tensed my muscles and sent a surge of adrenaline through my body when I had seen Ryan Sullivan.

Fear.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: So I know I've been a horrible person and have completely abandoned this fic. Things have just been crazy lately and I haven't had much time to write. However, school is out and I promise to update more frequently. Sorry! **

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

"So what did he look like again?" Alice asked, for what seemed like the millionth time.

I sighed impatiently. "I told you, there wasn't anything unusual about him. He looked like Jacob – dark skin, dark hair, high cheekbones. He's probably from another reservation in the area and wound up in Seattle somehow. The only thing that set him apart were his eyes, and how dark they were." I shuddered, remembering.

Edward, seated next to me on the Cullens' couch and gripping my hand in his, frowned slightly and met Carlisle's eyes. Instantly, he flicked his gaze to my face and then just as quickly to Alice's, whose delicate pixie features contorted in confusion. My brain instinctively grasped that he had figured something out, something important, but for the life of me, I couldn't guess what.

"What?" I hissed. "What is it?"

"Bella….." Carlisle said slowly. His tone was even and too calm. "Is there any possibility that this Ryan might be Quileute?"

I felt Edward's hand tense ever so slightly around mine. "I don't think so. Jake didn't mention it, and I'm sure he would have told me. Why? Did you see something, Alice?"

"Well, that's the thing, Bella," she replied. "I can't see anything involving him at all."

I inhaled sharply. "Just like the other pack members……"

"Of course, we don't want to jump to conclusions," Carlisle reasoned. "But it's definitely something we have to look into."

"No, I understand," I said, dazed by the turn of events. "But I've never met this guy before, never even heard of him. I'm not sure there's any way he could be Quileute."

"We've been wrong before about the pack, though….." said Edward, and I knew he was thinking of Leah and Quil, just as I was. "And it never hurts to be careful. I'm worried, however, about his eyes. None of the….pack have eyes that dark. If your description is accurate, the only way that his eyes could look like that is if he was one of us."

_And thirsty_.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "He hasn't presented himself as a threat, Edward. You may be overreacting." Alice snorted lightly next to me, stifling a giggle.

"I'm aware of that, believe me," stated Edward calmly. "But I can't take chances with you, Bella. I've already taken far too many."

"You won't have to worry for much longer," I murmured. "I don't think Ryan's dangerous, and I'll be careful. Jake's not going to let anything hurt me when I'm at La Push. And anyway…." the lump in my throat swelled again. "It's not like I'll be going there after I'm changed." I tried to hide my eyes from him, but he missed nothing, instead pulling me closer.

Esme was suddenly at my side, her cool arms wrapped around my shoulder. "Bella," she breathed, "please. I hate to see you like this."

"I'm fine," I insisted, wiping away a stray tear. "I've always known that I will have to make sacrifices when the time comes. It's not your fault." I felt a wave of reassurance and stability sweep over me and I turned to look gratefully at Jasper, who nodded ever so slightly in return, Alice on his lap.

"I don't want to think that he is dangerous," Carlisle said. "We trust your judgment, Bella. But as you say, you've only met him once and we don't know anything about him. I think the best thing right now is for you to stay away from him until we know more about him."

"It's strange," Alice murmured, and instantly the room was silent. "I can see him now……he's human. And then he disappears from my vision. Why would that happen?"

"Maybe he's with the pack," Esme suggested.

But Alice shook her head. "No, when he vanishes, he's miles away from them. So why would that happen, unless he phases…….? And even if he is a werewolf, I shouldn't be able to see him at all. It's like he's somehow human _and_ wolf."

"Or something else," Edward said grimly.

The rain began to fall when I was still a mile away from the house. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett had gone to hunt for what remained of the day, and I had refused to allow Alice to take me shopping. The day had been gorgeous when the Volvo had dropped me off, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue, revealing no hint of the lavender clouds that rolled in halfway through my walk. But it was Forks, after all, and the rain was bound to come sometime.

I blindly traipsed my way, dodging the wettest patches as best I could, but it wasn't long before my white tennis shoes were covered in mud. Resigned to waiting out the deluge until it let up a bit, I ducked under the nearest tree to try to get a bit of cover.

I didn't see him until he was right beside me.

"Bella." His voice was just a faint whisper, but it somehow managed to get my heart racing, my body knowing what my mind hadn't caught up to yet. Ryan Sullivan stood mere inches away from me, his eyes as dark as pitch. I instinctively stepped backwards, remembering Carlisle's instructions.

"I have to go," I said feebly. "I just got caught in the rain."

"I know. I could smell you. You have a floral scent about you. Almost like……violets, really." He smiled without warning, but there was nothing behind it. A façade for his darker purpose. Why had he sought me out alone?

"Ryan, listen. It's getting dark and Charlie's expecting me for dinner. Some other time." I hoped he couldn't detect the fear I was hiding under my nonchalant tone.

"You're interesting to me, Bella. And so are those friends of yours, the ones that never come to La Push. Yeah, Jacob told me all about them." He stepped closer to me, his eyes boring into mine. "I want to know more about you. I want to know what goes on inside the head of Bella Swan. Why no one, not even your boyfriend, can seem to figure out what you're thinking about."

_How does he know? Jake wouldn't tell him…….._

He reached down to his right and plucked a single violet out of the patch growing nearby, idly twirling it between his fingers. Suddenly, without warning, his hand came swiftly to my shoulder, and I tensed automatically, bracing myself to push him away. Instead, he merely pushed a lock of my wet hair back, placing the violet in my hand. My fingers trembled at his touch, and I dropped the flower involuntarily. He crushed it under his boot, grinding it into a pulp until he had destroyed it completely. "Tell your friends I'll be watching," he hissed. And then he was gone.

I found myself shaking all over, the tremors so great that I knelt for a moment, trying to get my control back. _Breathe, Bella, breathe. He's gone, he can't hurt you._ Slowly I rose, noticing that the rain had trailed off to a light drizzle. I started back home, barely thinking about where I was going, putting one foot in front of the other until the light from Charlie's front porch was within view. My body felt disjointed from my mind as I tried to fathom what had just happened. Stumbling towards the front door, I ran the last few steps until I saw it.

A single violet rested before the door, on top of a sheet of paper that fluttered lightly in the wind. The flower was the only thing that kept it from drifting away completely. I read the scrawled words on it twice, my teeth chattering, although the sun had reemerged and the day was warm.

_I'll be watching._


End file.
